Thursday, February 21, 2013

Moments after screaming in court, "I did not kill Kathleen," Drew Peterson was sentenced to 38 years in prison for the 2004 murder of his third wife Kathleen Savio.

Peterson had faced as much as 60 years, but Judge Edward Burmila said he gave Peterson some consideration for his years as a police officer and his service in the military.

The sentence was handed down after Peterson, who did not testify at this trial, made an emotional appeal to the judge, at times appearing to choke up.

Peterson began by telling the judge, "Good day, my name is Drew Peterson. I hope I don't aggravate the situation here, but I have a lot of things to be said." Then he screamed, "I did not kill Kathleen!"More

Developer Larry Silverstein is accusing American Airlines of trying to have it both ways over whether or not the Sept. 11 terror attacks were an "act of war."

In court papers filed this morning, Silverstein says the airline and its insurers "repeatedly and explicitly promised Congress, regulators and the American people that they would not use act of war to avoid paying claims" over the deadly hijackings by al Qaeda terrorists.

But after using those assurances to pocket "billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded benefits from a massive federal bailout," Silverstein says American has "reversed course" and is "engaged in a shameful display of cynicism" by invoking an "'act of war' defense" to his negligence suit over the attack on the Twin Towers, which he leased just two months earlier.

Gov. Martin O’Malley’s bill to abolish Maryland’s death penalty cleared a tall hurdle Thursday evening as a key Senate committee approved the measure for the first time and sent it to the full chamber for a vote next week.

The same Senate panel, which voted 6 to 5 for the repeal bill, also began plodding through dozens of proposed amendments to sweeping gun-control legislation, another top O’Malley priority, in a voting session that stretched into the night.

Senators were weighing changes to the bill, which would ban assault weapons, preclude more mental health patients from purchasing firearms, tighten school security and impose some of the strictest gun-licensing requirements in the country. More

After a series of dueling polls between the AP and other liberal news organizations and anti-amnesty groups such as FAIR and the Center for Immigration Studies, this is the first mainstream media poll to show a clear majority supporting deportations over amnesty.

Reuters notes that the poll “highlights the difficulties facing lawmakers trying to reform the U.S. immigration system. The online survey shows resistance to easing immigration laws despite the biggest push for reform in Congress since 2007.”More

Money Is A Form Of Social Control And Most Americans Are Debt SlavesBy Michael, on February 19th, 2013

Money Is A Form Of Social Control And Most Americans Are Debt Slaves Is America really “the land of the free”? Most people think of money as simply a medium of exchange that makes economic transactions more convenient, but the truth is that it is much more than that. Money is also a form of social control. Just think about it. What did you do this morning? Well, if you are like most Americans, you either got up and went to work (to make money) or to school (to learn the skills that you will need to make money).

We spend a great deal of our lives pursuing the almighty dollar, and there are literally millions of laws, rules and regulations about how we earn our money, about how we spend our money and about how much of our money the government gets to take from us. Not that money is a bad thing in itself. Without money, it would be really hard to have a modern society.

Unfortunately, our money is based on debt, and debt levels in the United States have exploded to absolutely unprecedented levels in recent years. The borrower is the servant of the lender, and if you are like most Americans, nearly every major purchase that you make in your life is going to involve debt. Do you want to get a college education so that you can get a “good job”? You are told to get a student loan. Do you want a car? You are encouraged to get an auto loan and to stretch out the payments for as long as possible. Do you want a home? You are probably going to end up with a big fat mortgage. And of course I could go on and on and on. The cold, hard truth of the matter is that most Americans are debt slaves. Most of us spend our entire lives trapped in an endless cycle of debt that we never escape until we die, and meanwhile our years of hard labor are greatly enriching those that own our debts.

Have you ever found yourself wondering why you can never seem to get ahead financially no matter how hard you work?

Well, it is probably because you have gotten yourself enslaved to debt.

OCEAN CITY -- With restoration funding uncertain, the future of the landmark Indian sculpture at the Inlet in Ocean City is in doubt this week as the weather has taken its toll on it over the last three decades.

Artist Peter Toth presented the Indian sculpture perched near the entrance to the Inlet parking lot to the town of Ocean City and the people of Maryland in 1976 as part of his larger plan to create a similar piece for every state in the U.S. as part of the nation’s bicentennial celebration. Through his Trail of the Whispering Giants plan, Toth created a sculpture unique to each state to raise the public’s consciousness of the plight of Native Americans and his gift to Maryland represents the Assateague Indian.

For over 30 years, the sculpture carved from 100-year-old oak has stood the test of time, tides and fierce weather along at the entrance to the Inlet, but it has gradually eroded to the point it will likely need to be restored to last another three decades.More

This is the fourth of the "12 Axioms of Freedom Restoration" set forth in my introductory article on this topic, "How to Restore the West."

The restoration of America's first and legitimate government will not be a quick or easy task but it is necessary if we are to survive as a free people and nation. While the US should, of course, retain both the Constitution and Bill of Rights, we must return to a decentralized confederation structure of government like Switzerland or Canada and add in the right of Swiss style referendums so citizens can terminate or initiate legislation when Congress fails to follow the will of the people.

While there have been many thoughtful and needed proposals about how we need to end the Fed, return to a gold backed currency, require term limits, repeal the 16th and 17th amendments to the Constitution, require a declaration of war for military action or a balanced budget and other changes, none of these will restore limited government or our republic. I agree with these ideals and many more but all will be ineffective if we retain the federal government structure in place now.

How could any American believe a law, congressional act or even an amendment to the Constitution could in any way control or limit the powerful interests running our government today? The Bill of Rights sounds great, the balanced budget amendment or national debt limit are compelling but all are meaningless gestures to a gullible public who really want to believe in America and our government.

A 4-year-old girl in Washington state pulled her little sister from the wreckage of a car crash that killed their mother, then kept the two of them warm under a blanket in the chilly rain for six hours until a passing driver found them.

State troopers said that the girls probably only survived because the older sister had the wherewithal to get them out of the car and cover them. The younger girl is 2. Both were hurt, NBC affiliate KING5 in Seattle reported.

The crash happened at about 2 a.m. Wednesday in a remote part of the state near the Pacific coast. It was after 8 when a driver noticed a fresh cut in the bark of a tree along the road — an orange gash in otherwise green and gray woods.More

The fixation on speed – and only speed – as the Number One Road Safety Issue is emblematic of the emoting that drives policy in this country.

It’s of a piece with the emoting about guns – “assault rifles” in particular. Hysterias erupting from a wellspring of ignorance.

An inept/careless driver operating at 40 MPH can be a greater hazard to himself and others than a skilled and attentive driver operating at twice that speed. Even on the same road. Just as a .22 fired from a revolver can kill you just as dead as a 7.62×39 fired from an “assault rifle.” Indeed, if handled carelessly, a .22 revolver can be infinitely more dangerous than the “assault rifle.”

Last Friday TheBlaze reported on a growing list of gun manufacturers and retailers who had stopped selling to law enforcement in states that were enacting stringent new gun laws.

Since that report, the initial list (seen below) has changed. However, none of the “big three” (Glock, Sig Sauer, Smith & Wesson) providers to law enforcement have stepped up and joined the companies who have chosen to take a public stand on the issue. In less than two weeks, at least 18 companies have made the decision to stop selling to law enforcement in states that limit a private citizen’s right to own a gun.

Olympic Arms, Inc

La Rue Tactical

EFI, LLC – Extreme Firepower

York Arms

Templar Custom

Cheaper Than Dirt

There is one arms maker that has gotten attention for publicly stating that they will not be pressured into stopping sales to law enforcement. That company is ArmaLite. More

Steven Spielberg's Lincoln has been a box-office hit and nominated for 12 Academy Awards, including best picture, best director and best actor for Daniel Day-Lewis, who portrayed our 16th president. I haven't seen the movie; therefore, this column is not about the movie but about a man deified by many. My colleague Thomas DiLorenzo, economics professor at Loyola University Maryland, exposed some of the Lincoln myth in his 2006 book, Lincoln Unmasked. Now comes Joseph Fallon, cultural intelligence analyst and former U.S. Army Intelligence Center instructor, with his new e-book, Lincoln Uncensored. Fallon's book examines 10 volumes of collected writings and speeches of Lincoln's, which include passages on slavery, secession, equality of blacks and emancipation. We don't have to rely upon anyone's interpretation. Just read his words to see what you make of them.In an 1858 letter, Lincoln said, "I have declared a thousand times, and now repeat that, in my opinion neither the General Government, nor any other power outside of the slave states, can constitutionally or rightfully interfere with slaves or slavery where it already exists." In a Springfield, Ill., speech, he explained, "My declarations upon this subject of negro slavery may be misrepresented, but can not be misunderstood. I have said that I do not understand the Declaration (of Independence) to mean that all men were created equal in all respects." Debating with Sen. Stephen Douglas, Lincoln said, "I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of ... making voters or jurors of Negroes nor of qualifying them to hold office nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races, which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality."More

We watched the county come out & put up a sign on the pole – it reads “ 25 MPH SCHOOL ZONE AHEAD “ - The only problem is the sign is facing the wrong direction. You don’t see it until you pass the school. It’s kind of comical we thought you might want to know about it.

Republican lawmakers are pushing a bill to cut the expected rate of return on Maryland $38 billion pension investment portfolio — a move that would effectively add billions of dollars to the state’s pension liabilities. The move to reduce what the GOP considers an unrealistic 7.75% rate to something like the corporate rate several points below that drew strong opposition from the State Retirement Agency at a hearing Tuesday.

Another bill backed by county governments to expand the 14-member Board of Trustees of State Retirement and Pension System by adding a county representative was opposed by the state teachers union at the House Appropriations Committee hearing.

The Truth in Pension Accounting Act

HB387 , the Truth in Pension Accounting Act, seeks to address the 7.25% rate of return the pension system has earned in the last 10 years by lowering the current pension rate of 7.75% to echo the interest rate dictated by the Internal Revenue Code for corporations and private pension plans. Currently, state and local governments get to choose their own rates of return, which average 8%.More

In another brilliant move aimed at destroying the few table scraps of economic freedom which remain in the Land of the Free, a bipartisan group of esteemed lawmakers in the United States Congress has introduced the Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013.

Remember the golden rule of legislation: the more noble the name of the law sounds, the more disastrous its results. This one is no exception.

Generally speaking in the United States, retailers must collect state and local sales tax at the point of sale. When you walk into a Main Street shop in Anytown, California, you’ll pay the sticker price PLUS hefty city and state sales taxes that can easily be 10% or more.

But if you purchase goods through the mail from a company in, say, Nevada or Oregon, either through the mail or online, no sales tax is charged. This goes back to a 20+ year old US Supreme Court decision which exempted out of state companies from collecting sales tax.

Well, according to the intellectual luminaries in Congress, local retailers are at a disadvantage, effectively having to charge 10%+ more for their products than an out-of-state retailer.

And by God, they’re going to do something about it. After all, it’s just not ‘fair’ that mom and pop retailers on main street have to charge sales tax, while mom and pop retailers on the Internet do not.

The Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013 aims to level the playing field by requiring online retailers to collect some sort of sales tax from their customers. Needless to say, if the bill is passed, it will be the customer who ends up paying the price.

Universal Orlando will drop health insurance coverage for part-time workers starting in 2014, when a new insurance rule will go into effect under Obamacare, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

Universal currently offers part-time employees low-premium coverage with limited benefits that are capped below the level allowed by Obamacare.

The plan costs about $18 a week for coverage that will pay up to $5,000 per year in hospital stays, according to the Sentinel. About 500 part-time Universal employees are currently covered under the plan.More

WASHINGTON - A Mt. Airy grandmother of two, who wishes to remain anonymous, has claimed the $26 million Mega Millions jackpot.

"I am still in denial," the woman says in Maryland Lottery news release. "I even drove by the store the next day to see if it was real. One look at the parking lot with all the news vans and I knew it was true."

The 48-year-old retiree says she plans to buy a beach house.

To win the jackpot, she matched all five numbers, plus the Mega Ball. She will take home $12.6 million after taxes.More

WASHINGTON - Maryland public high school students had the highest success rate on Advanced Placement tests in 2012, according to figures released Wednesday by the College Board.

Virginia came in fifth, behind New York, Massachusetts and Florida. The previous year, Virginia students had the third highest success rate on the tests, which help students prepare for college and can lead to college credit.

In Maryland, 29.6 percent of public high school students received a score of 3 or higher. The figure for Virginia was 27.2 percent.More

Raising the minimum wage from $7.25 to $9 should be a no-brainer. Republicans say it will cause employers to shed jobs, but that's baloney. Employers won't outsource the jobs abroad or substitute machines for them because jobs at this low level of pay are all in the local personal service sector (retail, restaurant, hotel, and so on), where employers pass on any small wage hikes to customers as pennies more on their bills. States that have a minimum wage closer to $9 than the current federal minimum don't have higher rates of unemployment than do states still at the federal minimum.

A mere $9 an hour translates into about $18,000 a year — still under the poverty line. When you add in the Earned Income Tax Credit and food stamps it's possible to barely rise above poverty at this wage, but even the poverty line of about $23,000 understates the true cost of living in most areas of the country.

Besides, the proposed increase would put more money into the hands of families that desperately need it, allowing them to buy a bit more and thereby keep others working.

KEITHVILLE, La. (AP) -- For the first time in their lives, four aging chimpanzees once used in federal research can go outside whenever they like. They can lie on the grass, clamber onto a platform 20 feet up on a chimp-style jungle gym and gaze freely at the open sky, the vista unbroken by steel bars.

Fifty-two-year-olds Julius and Sandy, 46-year-old Phyllis and 44-year-old Jessica have arrived. These and several other primates are now "living like chimpanzees" as they play, groom each other and tussle at Chimp Haven in northwest Louisiana -- the only national sanctuary for retired federal research chimps.

Julius' group is among 111 chimpanzees coming to Chimp Haven over the next 18 months from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette's New Iberia Research Center. They could be the vanguard of a much larger immigration of former research chimps on the way to the refuge in Keithville, La.More

Just how big are the biggest US banks, and how safe are they? When trying to figure all that out, it makes a big difference if you are analyzing them according to US accounting standards or international ones. The latter makes lenders account for a greater portion of risky derivatives on their balance sheets.Take JPMorgan, for instance. Under US accounting rules, the bank is just the fourth largest in the world with total assets of $2.3 trillion and capital equal to roughly 7% of total assets. But under international rules where lots of off-balance sheets assets like derivatives are accounted for, according to Bloomberg, JPMorgan would be the largest in the world with assets of $4.5 trillion and capital equal to less than 4% of assets. The higher capital ratios are, the less likely banks are to face liquidity and solvency problems.

On Monday, February 18, 2013 a Worcester County Sheriff’s Office Deputy was dispatched to Wal-Mart, Berlin for a reported employee theft.

During the investigation and subsequent interview it was learned Ms. Tykia Taylor 20 years of age form Stockton Md., allegedly stole money from Wal-Mart on eight separate occasions. The total amount stolen was approximately $3,144.00.Ms. Taylor was charged with Theft Scheme $1,000-$10,000, two counts of theft $1,000-$10,000, and four counts of theft less than $1,000, and two counts of theft less than $100

Ms. Taylor appeared before a District Court Commissioner and was released on a $5,000.00 unsecured bond.

On the evening of Sunday, February 17, 2013 Worcester County Sheriff’s Office Deputies and Maryland State Police responded to the Francis Scott Key Motel for a domestic incident.

Both parties were separated and made arrangements for a ride. While waiting for their individual rides Mr. William Thomas 31 of Delmar Md. confronted the female victim after being ordered to stay away. Mr. Thomas was again ordered to stay away from the female victim and failed to do so. Deputies attempted to place Mr. Thomas under arrest. Mr. Thomas began to resist their efforts. Mr. Thomas was subsequently subdued and handcuffed without further incident.

Mr., Thomas was charged with failure to obey a lawful order of police and resisting arrest. Mr. Thomas appeared before a District Court Commissioner and was released on his personal recognizance.

HYATTSVILLE, Md. - Every year, hundreds of thousands of Marylanders receive speed camera tickets in the mail and face a choice: Pay the ticket or go to court.

In Prince George's County, drivers who choose to fight their speed camera ticket end up at District Court in Hyattsville. But whether they are successful or end up paying a fine and court costs largely depends on the judge.

On Wednesday, about two dozen people showed up at 8:45 a.m. to contest their tickets. They faced Judge Thomas J. Love, who according to AAA Mid-Atlantic is one of the few judges who give some drivers a fair shake.

Love started off with an olive branch. Anyone who pleaded guilty with an explanation saw their ticket reduced from $40 to $2, plus court costs.

About half of the people took the deal, grabbed their papers and left.More

Maryland Achieves Seventh Straight Year of Leading the Nation in Top Scores

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Governor Martin O’Malley released the following statement after the College Board announced that Maryland students have achieved yet another number one national ranking in Advanced Placement (AP) success.

“Because of the better choices we’ve made together to invest in our children’s future, we’ve built the #1 public schools in the nation,” said Governor O’Malley. “Thanks to our hardworking students, our dedicated educators and our outstanding parents, Maryland’s high school students have achieved the nation’s best performance on AP exams for seven years in a row – outperforming their peers and gaining the skills they need to learn, earn and grow in the future.

“The most important investments we make as a people are investments in public education. Even in the toughest times, we’ve chosen to increase school funding 45% since 2006. Those investments are giving our principals, our teachers and our students the resources to continue to lead the nation in graduation rates, student achievement and the highest participation rate in AP science, technology, engineering and math exams in our state’s history.”

According to the College Board’s “Annual AP Report to the Nation,” the percentage of Maryland seniors who earned a score of 3 or higher on one or more AP exams reached 28.6 in 2012, the highest percentage in the nation and an increase over the 27.9 percent tallied in 2011.

Dover -- The Delaware Department of Transportation, through the Delaware Byways Program and community leaders, is promoting the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway and related activities as the state approaches the centennial anniversary of Tubman's death.

"We're recognizing the courage of Harriet Tubman in her efforts to lead people to their freedom. We're also hoping to educate the public on the importance of Delaware as one of the important stops in the Underground Railroad," said Delaware Department of Transportation Byways Program Coordinator, Ann Gravatt.

On Friday, March 1, 2013, Governor Markell will present a proclamation for Harriet Tubman Day at the Old State House, and will kick off a "Ten for the Tenth," the first of ten days of commemorative activities leading up to the 100th anniversary of the passing of Harriet Tubman on March 10, 1913. The culmination of the ten days of events, on March 10, will include two separate relays/walks in Camden, and at the Wilmington Christina Riverwalk - both of which were stops on the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad. For more details of these events, please visit www.harriettubmanjourney.org.

Born as a slave in Maryland, Harriet Tubman was an abolitionist, humanitarian and main architect of the Underground Railroad which helped slaves escape to freedom in Canada. Tubman personally led 13 missions to rescue more than 70 slaves before the abolition of slavery in 1865. The Underground Railroad included a route from Maryland through Camden, Dover, Smyrna, New Castle and Wilmington, Delaware, and then continued north to Canada.

On March 1, the Department of Transportation will also unveil a Corridor Management Plan (CMP) which helps to preserve, promote, enhance and manage the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway. The CMP includes a map of the Byway showing stops along the Underground Railroad (to view the stops, or get additional information, please go to www.harriettubmandelaware.com).

"The Corridor Management Plan should be very helpful to tourists who wish to get a first-hand look at stops of the Underground Railroad, enjoy all of the surrounding attractions, and walk through an important part of American history," said Byways Program Coordinator Ann Gravatt.

An armed elderly man in Dallas shot and killed a suspected burglar after finding him trying to break into his Dallas home this week. However, he was also forced to defend his actions after the would-be robber’s family showed up at his home.

The homeowner, a repeat burglary victim, found 33-year-old Deyfon Pipkins attempting to climb in the house through the window and fired at least one shot at the criminal, hitting his target.

Dallas police Sgt. Calvin Johnson told KDFW-TV that the homeowner is covered by the so-called “Castle Doctrine,” which provides legal protection to gun owners in Texas and other states who are forced to use deadly force against a home intruder.More

Wicomico County Public Schools will host a national speaker on athletic contest management for a Feb. 21 school safety training session for representatives from all Bayside Conference schools and representatives of the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office and Salisbury Police Department. The topic of speaker Jay Hammes’ presentation will be athletic contest management. Nearly all school districts have security measures in place during school days. However, similar risk management policies are too often overlooked for evening events. Safe Sport Zone has developed plans to assure safer environments for activities occurring at times other than during the regular school hours.For interscholastic athletics to survive, the games kids play have to be enjoyable, entertaining, safe, and educationally driven. Safe Sport Zone is committed to these principles. Safe Sport Zone has developed a staffing model for athletic administrators to adopt as a best practice. Spectator issues, identifying all fans, athletic concerns, facilities maintenance, evacuation procedures, and applications for almost any emergency are all part of the exercises. Hammes has been involved in athletics his entire life as a player, a coach, a P.E. teacher and is presently in his 20th year of athletic administration, both at the high school and collegiate level. His passion for high school athletics has him currently speaking throughout the country on maintaining a safer environment for after-school events.He is currently working with the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association and is the chair and lead instructor of the leadership training course called “Contest Management”, which covers athletic event security. He has been published numerous times and endorsed by both the NIAAA and the NFHS to instruct schools/school districts on after-school safety training throughout the country.

The star of the story is Charlene Hamilton, who divorced her husband at his request when he went to prison for dealing drugs. She was unable to remarry, however, due to the lack of eligible men.

“With so many men locked up, the ones left think they can do whatever they want,” Ms. Hamilton told the Times. “A man will have three mistresses, and they’ll each put up with it because there are no other men around.”

So where are they relocating, Fruitland. Mayor Jim Ireton couldn't save a business here in Salisbury to save his life. They are fed up, tired of all the hoops they have to jump through and businesses are spending the money to pack up and move one town over, even taking the risk of losing business.Wake up Salisbury. Barrie Tilghman and Jim Ireton destroyed business here in Salisbury and the ONLY thing Jim has left is going after Obama money to build 500 affordable housing units on the Downtown parking lots. You have to truly wonder, why would Jim Ireton want to get back into the Mayor's seat. I can tell you first hand, Jim Ireton told me he wanted to get those EDU's and these affordable housing units in line. If he had it lined up he wouldn't run again. If he didn't get them lined up he'd be running again. It's all about those housing units and Ireton admitted that to me face to face when I told him I would be running for Mayor. Sound familiar?

LONDON – Three young British Muslims have been convicted of plotting terrorist bomb attacks that prosecutors said were intended to be bigger than the 2005 London transit bombings.

A London jury found 27-year-old Irfan Khalid, 31-year-old Irfan Naseer and Ashik Ali, 27, of being central figures in the foiled plot to explode knapsack bombs.

Prosecutors said the men, fired up by the sermons of a US.-born Al Qaeda preacher, hoped to cause carnage on a mass scale. Their plot was undone by mishaps with money and logistics, and ended in a police counterterrorism swoop in 2011.

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Baltimore hosting the Olympics in just over a decade? It’s a possibility. Baltimore may make a bid for the 2024 Games.

Gigi Barnett takes a closer look at our chances.

Baltimore is the hometown of the most decorated Olympian of all time, Michael Phelps. But could the city host the 2024 Summer Games? It’s a question the US Olympic Committee wants answered and this week, it asked city leaders if they’re interested.

Some residents already are.

“Given how much the city can be excited about an event, I think it’s an awesome idea,” said Lily Leach.More

The Postal Service's latest fix for its money problems — launching a clothing line. It has signed an agreement with the Cleveland-based apparel company Wahconah. The new line will be called "Rain ... Heat ... and Snow." The Postal Service said it will also feature wearable electronics. Officials said it will put the Postal Service on the cutting edge of functional fashion. Men's wear comes out first, but a women's line will follow.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is promising swift action in Baltimore. VA Secretary Eric Shinseki says the department will put two "help teams" on board to help the regional office pick up the pace. He's also bringing in high-level consultants and launching top-to-bottom training. All this comes after Sens. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.) made a fuss over the office's backlog. It's the worst in the nation, with four out of five disability claims taking longer than four months. What's more, the lawmakers say, the office makes mistakes on those applications about a quarter of the time.

Arraigned at JP2 and committed to Sussex Correctional Institution on $100,000.00 secured bond.

Resume:Georgetown, DE- The Delaware State Police Major Crimes Unit has arrested a Millsboro man after it was discovered he was sending text messages of sexual nature to a teen.

Detectives were contacted yesterday February 20th by Sussex Technical High School administrators after it was discovered by an employee that Stanley Daniel Zakrociemski, a teacher, had been sending unlawful sexual text messages to a 17 year old student. The messages began as far back as March of 2012 and continued until the employee uncovered the text messages two days ago. The relationship between Zakrociemski and the 17 year old, who turned 18 in December of 2012, never became physical in nature.

Zakrociemski turned himself in to detectives at Troop 4 yesterday and was arrested on five counts of Sexual Solicitation of a Child Under 18. He was arraigned at JP2 and committed to SCI on $100,000.00 secured bond.

Questions regarding Stanley Daniel Zakrociemski’s status with Sussex Tech High School should be directed to the Sussex Tech District Office.

Because of the sensitivity of this case, and in consideration of the victim, only limited information will be released.

They also found that the Bible belt stretching across the American south and into Texas was less happy than the west or New England. The saddest town of the 373 urban areas studied was Beaumont in east Texas. The happiest was Napa, California, home of many drunk people wine makers. The only town among the 15 saddest that was not in the south or Rust Belt was Waterbury, Connecticut. (Although Waterbury has appeared on several "worst places to live" lists, which seems like mean lists to make.)

Congressional staffers face layoffs and furloughs in two weeks, but Congress members made sure their own paychecks were safe when passing the “sequester law” in 2011.

Technically, the mandatory cuts to military and domestic federal spending are part of the Budget Control Act of 2011. The act contained a “poison pill”–the threat of stark budget cuts by January 2013 in the form of what’s known as the sequester.

That threat was pushed back to March 1, 2013, as part of a compromise made in January. But now, barring a last-second deal, it looks like the sequester will happen.

I am a B2B salesman, when I go to my company meetings and here some of the success stories from other areas in Maryland I just shake my head and say WOW. Most of these stories are coming from areas the size of Salisbury or smaller but have alot of manufacturers, if you look at the industrial park off Nailer Mill RD you find empty buildings and service providing businesses such as The Roof Center, Cloverland Dairy, a couple of breead companies, where has the manufacturing gone and what has been done to keep what we have and invite more.

A California man with only $6 in his pocket lost his dog last week when he was arrested for marijuana (he later showed he had a prescription). Heartbroken, he visited the animal shelter everyday where the dog was impounded — and one woman who spotted him crying at the cage changed everything for him.

Dave Thomas from San Bernardino told the San Bernardino Sun “it made [him] crazy” that he couldn’t afford the $400 it would cost to release the pit bull mix named Buzz Lightyear.

When Maria Sanchez, a woman the Sun reported visits the shelter daily to take photos for awareness efforts, posted a picture of Thomas and Buzz holding hands (er, hand and paw) at the cage, it went viral. Not only did Thomas receive enough money to free Buzz — $2,000 was raised as of Tuesday — but the Sun noted it also resulted in a job offer and a marriage proposal.More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing heightened expectations from gay rights supporters, the Obama administration is considering urging the Supreme Court to overturn California's ban on gay marriage — a move that could have a far-reaching impact on same-sex couples across the country.

The administration has one week to file a friend-of-the-court brief with the justices outlining its opinion on the California ban, known as Proposition 8. While an administration brief alone is unlikely to sway the high court, the government's opinion does carry weight with the justices.

OCEAN CITY -- An Ocean City woman, arrested twice within a few hours two weeks ago on assault charges after first hitting her fiancé with a can of beer and later attacking him with a can of beans, was up to her old tricks this week after repeatedly slapping the victim for taking the last can of cold beer before jumping off a second-floor balcony to elude police.

On Feb. 5, Kathleen Theresa Machen, 47, was arrested on second-degree assault charges after allegedly attacking her fiancé by hitting him in the head with a can of beer. Ocean City police responded to a residence on Philadelphia Ave. near 12th Street and placed Machen under arrest on a second-degree assault charge.

After the arrest for second-degree assault, Machen was taken before a District Court Commissioner and was released on her own recognizance with the specific stipulation she was not to return to the residence nor have any contact with the victim. Apparently, she did not heed that warning and returned to the residence to allegedly assault the victim again.More

A bill changing the state’s petition process could make it harder for voters to bring controversial laws to referendum. The Referendum Integrity Act will be among numerous bills debated in Annapolis Thursday that could fundamentally change state election law.

Opponents say the bill by Democratic Dels. Eric Luedtke, Jon Cardin, Sheila Hixson, Anne Kaiser and Jolene Ivey – all members of the House Ways & Means Committee that will hear the bills, including chair Hixson — will diminish the public’s ability to petition laws to the ballot. Filled with new rules, regulations and signature disqualification penalties, the effort is seen as an attempt to effectively kill the referendum process as it is exists today.

“This bill, HB493, is offensively called the ‘Referendum Integrity Act,’” said Del. Neil Parrott, R-Washington County, founder of MdPetitions.org, the online petition system that jumpstarted the referendum process in Maryland last year. “This bill puts excessive requirements on anyone who collects signatures;More

The FBI has arrested an Connecticut woman accused of threatening to carry out a mass shooting at a community college.

Amanda Bowden, 19, of East Haven, Conn., was taken into custody Tuesday.

Bowden is accused of threatening to commit a Newtown-style mass shooting at Gateway Community College in New Haven, Conn.

"As alleged, this defendent made a series of threats that described in great detail her intention to carry out a suicidal mass murder at a community college in New Haven," said U.S. Attorney David Fein.

It has been four years since Rick Santelli's epic "are you listening Mr. President?" speech and the bad behavior has merely been more and more rewarded. Assisted by the enablers of the world - Central Bankers - and their liquidity pump of awesomeness, Santelli exclaims that all we are doing is "promoting bad behavior," as the elites "build sand castle economies." His frustration is contagious as he outlines just what has not happened in the last four years - from no-budget to blow-out deficits, and from grand deals to grand bargains to no deals, and Europe's imploding economies - he sums it up perfectly - "we're gonna need a lot of luck."More